


Come Again, That I May Cease To Mourn

by ribbons



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling, Lord Peter Wimsey - Sayers
Genre: Double Drabble, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-13
Updated: 2009-12-12
Packaged: 2017-10-04 09:34:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ribbons/pseuds/ribbons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Bunter first sets eyes on Teddy Lupin, he momentarily thinks senility has overtaken his mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://marginaliana.insanejournal.com/profile)[**marginaliana**](http://marginaliana.insanejournal.com/), who [prompted me](http://bronze-ribbons.insanejournal.com/132476.html) with "Bunter" and "storytelling." First posted at my insanejournal in 2008.

When Bunter first sets eyes on Teddy Lupin, he momentarily thinks senility has overtaken his mind: Lord Peter has been dead for over thirty years, and none of his descendants have inherited the famous Wimsey hands. To see Teddy gesture with them as he tells a story about his "uncle" Draco, his hair blond and an odd smile on his lips -- it reminds Bunter of a thousand evenings at Tallboys, his lordship deftly weaving together strands of Donne and strains of Dowland with his own clever, fluent nonsense to entertain the children and enchant her ladyship.

Those had been magical years, in the Muggle sense of the word. Bunter had known he missed them, but seeing Teddy makes him realise how deeply he misses having a proper audience for his skills. As Teddy's hands cast entrancing shadows on the walls -- here a rabbit, there a kneazle -- Bunter makes some inquiries.

When Teddy finally Floos home, Bunter's in the library, waiting. He immediately whisks the soot off of Teddy's robes and hands him a mug of hot chocolate.

"Thank you," Teddy murmurs. "I see the stories about you are true."

"I look forward to verifying the ones about you," Bunter replies.


	2. Prequel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prequel to "Come Again..." Written and posted a day later.

Teddy is not proud of how he broke off his engagement with Victoire. He'd been cowardly -- like his father -- and clumsy -- like his mother-- and the only Weasley still speaking to him is Aunt Ginny, who had insisted all along that he could do better than a daughter of Phlegm. Stopping by his godfather's, Uncle Ron (not speaking to him, but speaking loud enough for him to hear) says, "At least he got himself un-engaged before getting her pregnant. He's one up on old Remus there--" and while Teddy had already known his parents had gotten married in an indecent hurry -- he'd heard _all_ their flaws enumerated at length throughout his childhood -- it still hurts that Uncle Ron wants to hurt him that much. It hurts that there are now good reasons for people to want to hurt him, as opposed to the relatives who hadn't forgiven him for existing and the classmates who'd taunted him with his parents' histories simply because they could. It hurts that the whole sad mess could have been avoided: there had been an abundance of signs that the relationship was Not a Good Idea from the very beginning, but he had wanted so badly to be adored that he'd refused to pay attention to them. Not until he could no longer ignore the sensation of feeling buried alive.

His only consolation is that the mess has propelled him into becoming a detective. Years later, it will strike him as an obvious choice: his mother had been an Auror, and his father had been a Marauder. Insatiable curiosity is in his blood, and so is an infinite capacity to attract trouble. It is these things that will lead him to read the chronicles of Lord Peter Wimsey, to deduce that Mervyn Bunter had retired to the Wizarding World, and to engineer their wholly non-coincidental encounter at Demetria Greengrass's salon. When he and Bunter finally meet, Teddy will have a much better idea of his place in the world, as well as what he is willing to accept from other people. He won't have stopped running away from himself, but he'll at least comprehend what Bunter can offer, and he'll recognise that he needs it.

For now, though, he is simply heartsick. He becomes a detective because he's vowed he will never again be caught ignoring obvious clues.


End file.
